Nevertheless, it may require a miracle to pull off the Fiat chief's latest gambit: Take his sporty Alfa Romeo brandglobal with more expensive models and triple its sales volume by2016 - after years of losses.

To add extra spice to the challenge, which takes place asEuropean car sales plummet to 17-year-lows, the new Alfas willbe built in Italy, where labour and material costs are farhigher than in the United States, Asia or Eastern Europe.

The plan is however about far more than the fate of the Alfabrand. It represents Fiat's only real hope of combating acollapse in its home market and breathing new life into idledfactories. Should it fail, and the new cars flop, the companythat Italians view as a cornerstone of their economy will havelittle choice but to put thousands of employees out of work andtip entire communities into turmoil.

Marchionne has form where ailing brands are concerned. Theoutgoing 60-year old has been widely hailed for his 2009acquisition and subsequent turnaround of bankrupt U.S. automakerChrysler. However his announcement late last year of a strategicoverhaul of the 103-year-old Alfa Romeo brand - which Fiatacquired in 1986 and has since failed to revive despite repeatedattempts - has been greeted with scepticism.

"I wouldn't write the plan off," said Bernstein analyst MaxWarburton, noting the Alfa brand's resilience despite years ofneglect. "But get it wrong, or find consumers aren't interested,and it will be a financial catastrophe."

RESURRECTION SCHEME

Marchionne is betting on Alfa because he believes it candeliver the global profile that Fiat cannot and far greatersales volumes than Maserati.

Alfa's overhaul comes with a 1 billion-euro ($1.3 billion)pricetag to pay for the introduction of five new models by 2016,and a revamp of the brand's two existing compact cars.

Leading the project is the limited-edition 4C sports car, acompact two-seater which makes its public debut at the Genevaauto show on Tuesday and goes on sale later this year. U.S.pricing is rumoured to be between 50,000 and 60,000 euros.

The 4C, competing with the Porsche Cayman andBoxster, will be joined in 2015 by the Spider roadster,co-developed with Mazda and priced from less than 23,000 euros($30,000), and a new sedan expected to share underpinnings withChrysler and Ferrari-sourced engines with the new MaseratiGhibli.

Another weapon will be the Giulia, which will be unveiled in2015 and the first mainstream Alfa model to be sold in theUnited States since it quit that market in 1995. The Giuliasedan and wagon will be followed in 2016 by replacements for theGiulietta and MiTo hatchbacks.

Marchionne believes this strategy will help Fiat raiseAlfa's annual sales to 300,000 cars by 2016. While that goal isdown dramatically from a previous target of 500,000 cars by2014, it still looks a stretch from the 92,000 Alfas sold in2012 - the worst showing in more than 40 years - and the brand's previous best of just over 200,000 sales in 2000.

Barclays Capital is among those doubtful of the scheme.

"It's not the first time we have heard an ambitious volumeplan for Alfa," the investment bank said in a recent note toinvestors. "Volumes were supposed to be 400,000 in 2014 ratherthan the 70,000 that seems likely."

The top global auto forecasting houses are equallyunconvinced. Michigan-based IHS Automotive and LMC Automotiveare projecting annual sales of around 230,000 Alfas by 2016.

"Alfa is going to have a fight on its hands in luring luxurybuyers into its vehicles," said LMC senior analyst JosephLangley. "Charging a premium and leaning on heritage is notenough in the highly competitive luxury segments, as Cadillac(and) Lincoln have experienced."

Marchionne himself has said Alfa's task will be difficult.The division has had six bosses since his own 2004 appointment,and none of them have been able to move the needle much.

"I left Alfa because I couldn't get the green light for areal product plan with the right motors for the right clients... who are now driving BMWs," said an executive who ran Alfaless than a decade ago.

"It was clear to me there was a lack of resources. Alfa hadbecome an empty box."

EYE ON AUDI

European car demand is expected to contract even furtherthis year, squeezing mass-market brands still harder betweenexcess product and cut-throat pricing, while a strong euro addsfurther complications.

Marchionne is also up against luxury buyers' preference forwell-established German premium brands such as BMW and Audi,each of which sells around 1.5 million cars a year.